LANGUAGES

Prior to the incident at Babel (Gen. 11:1ff), the people of the earth spoke one language. Because of ancient man's ambition to "make a name" for himself, and due to his resistance to dispersing and filling the earth (Gen. 1:28), God "confounded" the human tongue and men began to speak languages that were not understood by one another. There are now more than 3,000 languages world-wide. While some consider the biblical account to be nothing more than myth, the evidence indicates otherwise. According to the late Max Muller of Oxford University, language studies reveal that the tongues of man have a common origin. Modern computer comparisons appear to confirm this conclusion. Ancient historical traditions among several nations, and archaeological discovery, also have suggested that there are genuine historical roots to the "Babel" account.